Singapore — Oil prices had their highest January opening since 2014 on Tuesday, with Brent and WTI crude prices rising to mid-2015 highs, supported by ongoing supply cuts led by the Opec cartel and Russia as well as strong demand. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $60.64 a barrel at 2.20am GMT, up 22c or 0.4%, after hitting a June 2015 high of $60.68 earlier in the day. Brent crude futures — the international benchmark for oil prices — were at $67.20 a barrel, up 33c or 0.5%, after hitting a May 2015 high of $67.23 a barrel earlier in the day. It was the first time since January 2014 that both crude oil benchmarks opened the year above $60 a barrel. "Falling inventories globally and strong economic growth offset the restart of the Forties pipeline and the resumption of production following a pipeline outage in Libya," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage Oanda in Singapore. The 450,000-barrel-a-day capacity Forties pipeline system in t...
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